A Day In The Life
by alphayamergo
Summary: Emma and Graham, wake up, have breakfast, and go to work. A good day is ahead of them. Or not. Cricket Game AU. Gremma.


**AN: A quick fic that was inspired by a combination of Msynergy and Adventuresinstorybrooke's posts on Emma and Henry walking in on Snow and Charming, and the Gremma tag on tumblr.**

Emma was content.

It was funny. She hadn't felt happy like this – well, ever. Even when she was seventeen and in love with Neal, she had never felt content like she did right now. She had always had that niggling fear of being caught and the continuous insecurity about her missing parents.

But now, she thought with a satisfied sigh, she had nothing like that to worry about. Well, okay – Rumplestiltskin was still a bit of a worry, and there was always the threat of Regina deciding to take back Henry and screw everything else. But with Belle and Henry keeping both of them calm, fear of them had subsided a bit.

She rolled over in her comfortable bed, splaying her arms out. Her head found itself resting on a warm chest, one arm across his stomach, ring glittering in the sunlight that was beginning to filter into the room. '_I will never get used to that,_' she thought, snuggling a little closer into Graham's side. She'd spent too long alone for her to grow familiar to waking up beside someone each morning. But she was learning – and so was he – and some day they would be.

Emma listened to the sound of his heart beating for several moments with a smile playing across her face. She sometimes wondered what would have happened if Regina had had enough magic left to crush Graham's heart that day, almost a year ago now. It was an awful subject to think of, but now, at least, there was no risk of it ever, ever happening.

"Good morning." Emma glanced up at the sound of Graham's voice. She withdrew her head from his chest quickly and sat up. She prided herself on not being the touchy-feely one in their relationship (though, to be honest, Graham wasn't that much worse than she was) or in her new family in general and she did _not_ like being caught in the act of thinking mushy thoughts.

Graham looked highly amused by her actions but didn't bother to say anything. "We slept in," he noted, glancing at the clock.

"It's Saturday," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Henry doesn't need to be at school, and all calls to the stations get redirected to our phones when we're not there. It'll be fine."

* * *

They made their way downstairs eventually. Emma stepped on to the lower floor first and glanced around.

"Oh my god. Graham, get the water gun."

From inside their bedroom, Snow and James broke their kiss at the sound of Emma's voice. Embarrassment filled their features.

"No water gun needed," said Snow as quickly as she could.

"Good to know." Emma wondered if it was possible to fit anymore awkwardness into her words. Probably not. She and Graham exchanged a quick glance. "We'll just… go to Granny's for breakfast, I think."

"We'll wait for Henry to wake up," said James. "We'll bring him down."

"Okay. Well, um." Emma paused. "We'll just… go. Yeah." She almost sprinted towards the door. It was wrenched open gratefully and the Saviour and the Huntsman almost leapt out the door. Both remained silent as they headed on to the street.

"That was the worst thing ever," she said after several minutes. Graham glanced at her and his lips started tugging upwards. "Is there anything funny about this?" she demanded.

"Your face," he replied, not even bothering to hide his grin now. "Don't get me wrong, that was... horrible, but you're adorable when you're embarrassed."

She glared at him. "I hate you," she griped.

"No you don't." Graham smirked at her openly.

She continued to give him her very best death stare for several moments as they continued to walk towards the diner. Eventually, she relented at the sight of his grin. "No, I don't," she sighed. "You're too cute to hate." Graham laughed as she opened the door to Granny's.

"Emma! Graham! Hi," said Ruby, joining them only a few moments after they'd stepped through the door.

"Hey, Ruby," said Emma. She had rather missed the other girl when she'd been stuck in the Enchanted Forest, even if she was – as Emma had discovered in the week that she had been back – rather different now the curse had been broken when compared to before.

"You wanting some _real_ food?" asked Ruby. Neither she nor Granny could resist making jokes about Emma's obvious dislike for fairytale food when she was at the diner. "No chimera, we promise."

"No chimera?" Emma mock-gasped. "Well, then we might as well go somewhere else. Come on, Graham." Ruby laughed, flicking her notepad open.

"So, what'll you be having?" she asked them both.

* * *

"You are _awful_." Graham's words were laced with laughter even as she glanced at him in annoyance. It was hard to resist smacking him.

"Or maybe _you're_ just not a very good teacher," Emma countered. His attempts at teaching her darts – a stepping stone to learning archery, he claimed – was not going well. Her last throw had managed to hit the board, but had promptly bounced off it. Other attempts had ended up in the roof, on the wall meters away from the board, or simply on the floor. Emma had long since become frustrated with the lesson and her continued failures at it.

"Or maybe _you_ have horrible aim." Emma really couldn't deny that comment. She dreaded the day she actually got her hands on a bow. She'd probably kill someone. Well – someone that _wasn't_ the ogre or whatever that she wanted to kill.

"Or maybe – maybe – _shut up_!" she exclaimed as she found herself unable to think of a suitable response. Graham laughed outright. She made a face at him as he stepped closer to her. His laugh became quieter. He leaned forwards to kiss her, and Emma grinned -

* * *

Emma Swan woke up.

She had no idea what had made her dream about Graham, let alone being _engaged_ to him. She hadn't thought about the former sheriff in a while – curses and witches and ogres mostly keeping her mind off of everything – but she now felt the grief she'd kept bottled up since his death creep over her again.

"Damn it," she muttered, voice thick. She glanced at the clock. _2:00._ But she couldn't go back to sleep now. She stumbled over to her chest of drawers, grabbing the sheriff badge off the top. She traced it sadly, her finger running over the words. She missed Graham quite a bit if she allowed herself to be honest about it. Emma wondered if she would have believed in the curse sooner if he had survived. Thinking back on it now, it was clear what the words '_I remember_' meant.

His heart.

A realization flooded over Emma so quickly she didn't have time to process it. Regina had killed Graham. She had crushed his heart. The doctor's said it had been a heart attack, and what else would a crushed heart look like in a world with no magic?

She gripped the badge fiercely, fury welling up inside her. Regina had killed Graham. Regina had killed Graham. And she had _never_ paid for her crimes.

Recalling Graham's awkward, _adorable_ flirting, his kiss, his determination to keep her around even when Regina – who had been capable of _controlling_ him – tried so hard to make sure he didn't, Emma vowed that Regina certainly would pay now.

**AN: I am deeply sorry for turning into Stephen Moffat while writing this fic. It's kind of what I was hoping for as a prequel to the Cricket Game.**


End file.
